CryoStore diary - Linde Rombaut
Secondment at NMBU, Norway | May-July, 2025Hi, I’m back with another update about my PhD journey!
Back in May, I swapped sunny Portugal for the beautiful country of Norway for my secondment at the faculty of veterinary medicine at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). For a period of 6 weeks, I was introduced to the world of fish reproduction, gained hands-on experience with new techniques, experienced Norwegian culture and made so many new friends, but more about that later!
Surroundings of the faculty of veterinary medicine at NMBU
Thawing of vitrified bovine oocytes
During my research stay, I collaborated closely with three fellow PhD students. With CryoStore DC Paulina Pyrek, I worked on vitrifying, thawing and staining bovine oocytes. Paulina’s research focuses on optimizing cryopreservation protocols by testing different thawing temperatures.
I also had the chance to join Ellen Haldorsen for semen collection from a dog, followed by processing and cryopreservation in the andrology lab. This process is actually quite similar to what I have been working on with Merino ram semen back at home in Portugal. Ellen’s project explores whether honey can be used as a natural additive in semen extenders for guide dogs, potentially replacing the use of antibiotics.
I spent the largest part of my secondment working together with CryoStore DC Sheyda Shapouri, who is working with zebrafish. This gave me the opportunity to really expand my technical skills in the field of fish reproduction. Over the weeks, I prepared artemia, dosed them with L-carnitine and used them in feeding trials for the zebrafish. I also collected sperm and oocytes, dissected testes and ovarian tissue, performed oocyte staining, and ran CASA analyses. Here, the difference with mammalian sperm couldn’t be bigger, as zebrafish sperm, once activated, is only motile for a mere couple of seconds. Precision and speed are essential to obtain reliable and reproducible data. So, you have to be really fast to capture the perfect shot. I also took part in IVF procedures, following the complete process from collection to fertilization to hatching of the larvae.
Hiking with Paulina’s dog Olaf
Outside of the lab, I made sure to experience and enjoy Norway itself as much as possible. I went hiking, swam in the fjords, and spent evenings with friends over dinner. Experiencing the long summer days made the secondment even more memorable. Overall, it was a really enriching experience, both professionally as personally.
Right after leaving Norway, I traveled directly to Rennes, France, for the summer school on germinal cells and assisted reproductive technologies in farm animals, which was a great continuation of this very productive and inspiring period.
Talk to you soon for another update!
-Linde
Group picture in the zebrafish lab! From left: Linde Rombaut, Sheyda Shapouri, Ian Mayer and Amin Sayyari.